I know they upgraded some internals and the handle but did they address the water/salt intrusion issue with the new models?
No, not that they're much different than other level winds.
I don't let that stop me from loving mine. With the tutorial John Tuttle posted I expect to be using them a long time. And I have an open center console Whaler so I'm sure they'll get salt water splashed and lots of mist.
Yes, the issues remain but like all of these things it is a doubled edged sword.
water can splash inside (bad) but the insides are nearly all stainless (good). As well, any that gets in can get out and it will dry faster....(good).
The bad for all of them is the bearing under the drive shaft. If that gets wet its gonna stay wet (in any of the many reels that use this design) and seize up. All you can do is open it up, pack the bearing and receptacle with grease, and get more life out of it than you would otherwise. Ideally this would be a sealed area but no one wants to go to the trouble yet.
They'd be better using a bushing under the shaft rather than a bearing sitting in a dump.